Not-Birthdays with Not Siblings
by Ehliena
Summary: Powergirl makes sure that her best friend's not-brother doesn't forget to greet her a happy birthday.


_There's the kid,_ Powergirl said to herself as she spotted Robin throwing a batarang and incapacitating one of the suspects he was chasing. _Man he has deadly accuracy. Not that Helena didn't when she was Robin, but this kid... He's lethal._

She watched as Robin took the high ground, like a tiger stalking his prey. One down, two to go. After a few minutes of watching she got bored and swooped in on Robin as he made a leap from one rooftop to another,

"Hey!" he said, twisting in yer arms and breaking her hold, hitting her with batarangs as he fell,

"Hey yourself, twerp."

Oh the things she did for Helena. Karen knew that Robin would probably fire a grapple and save himself, but she was wasting time as it was. So, out of the goodness of her heart, she caught the brat and set him down on the nearest roof.

"They're getting away," he pointed out. "All thanks to you and your manhandling."

She raised an eyebrow at his complaint. In two seconds she had the perps he was chasing tied up and unconscious at their feet.

"Happy?" She asked.

"Never, but it's a start," he commented, seriously, how can he be eleven? "What business do you have in Gotham? In case you haven't heard, metas aren't welcome here."

"Like I'd choose to be here in this psychopath-ridden hell hole you call home," Karen replied. "I'm here for a favor actually."

"Why should I do you a favor?" Robin asked. She couldn't see it through the domino mask, but Powergirl was sure that his eyebrow was raised. The Robin training must include that, a whole lesson on conveying expressions despite wearing a mask.

"Because, I'm a super-powered alien?" she joked.

"Are you threatening me?" he asked, his posture changing, taking on an offensive stance.

"Whoa kid," Powergirl raised her hands, in defense, as a way to calm him down, or as a sign that she came in peace, she didn't know. "As Robin, aren't you supposed to, I don't know, make jokes? Or at least understand when someone _is _joking?"

"Very well. What do you need _me _for," he asked, his tone telling her that he thought she could use his help more, not that he would ever offer it. "Given that you are such a super-powered _alien_."

Powergirl narrowed her eyes. How can this kid, this Robin, be so sure of himself and sound so superior even though he knew she could probably squash him like a bug? And the way he said the word 'alien', most people reserve that tone for something disgusting, like 'trash' or 'politics.' She sighed, impertinent brat that he was, she still needed that favour.

"It's about your not-sister," Powergirl said. "Huntress."

"What did you do?" he asked. Powergirl didn't think it was possible, but he seemed even more likely to attack her now.

"I saved her butt time and again," she snarked. Seriously, the brat can test the patient of a saint. "It was her birthday yesterday."

"I fail to see the significance of the event."

"Seriously?" Powergirl couldn't believe her ears. "I don't know how you were raised kid, but where we come from, birthdays are kind of a thing. You know, something people celebrate?"

"Nightwing has informed me of this," Robin replied. "However, I fail to see-"

"Listen _kid_," she said, stopping herself from throttling the brat. "H and I have spent five years here, and while we're almost like sister, _you_ are the closest thing to an actual brother that she has. The closest thing to any blood-relative she could ever have again."

"Tt, that's preposterous," Robin scoffed. "Genetically speaking, Father-"

"Huntress had a Father," Powergirl interrupted, "And as strict as he was, nobody will ever replace him. She's never had a brother though."

"Hn, very well," Robin acquiesced. "What is it exactly that you want me to do? And you will owe me one when I do it."

"I dunno," she admitted, a bit sheepishly since she expected him to have a plan in mind for greeting someone on their birthday. He _was _Batman's son, and Batman always had a plan.

"Tt, of course you don't," he shook his head. "Never mind, I'll figure it out. Remember, you owe me."

With that he took off. Karen could have caught up to him, but decided not to. The kid seemed to have an inkling of what to do, and she was already behind schedule. If Robin did do something unexpected, Karen knew that Helena could handle it.

Huntress took a break from patrol on a low rooftop. Not that she was out of breath, but pushing herself too much would be bad. At least that was what her Father had always said. A cat passed right by her and she bent down to pet it, but it hissed at her and took a swipe. She evaded the swipe easily and the cat walked away from her.

"For Catwoman's daughter, cats don't seem to like you."

Robin swooped and landed next to her, his form perfect. Helena watched him enviously. He was eleven, a few good years younger than she was when she started being Robin. He was good, very good. He moved like any Robin did, only better, more efficient.

She followed the Robins' career from the start. Videos of the first Robin showed her a graceful boy. He moved like a performer, every action was done to attract attention. There was power in his punches, but not as much as the second Robin. That Robin was crude, but he got the job done. He was strong, she had seen and heard reports of that Robin breaking bones and being violent. Not that that had helped him, he had died.

The third Robin, the one who calls himself Red Robin now, he was textbook. He lacked the grace of the first and the experience of the second, but he was smart. He fought smart too. Helena would give him that.

Now this Robin, her not-brother, possibly the deadliest of them all, she had done her research. She knew who he was and how he was raised. But he was still her not-brother, the closest thing to family she had in this world.

"And for a child of the League of Assassins, cats seem to like you too much."

The cat that had turned up its tail at her came back to rub itself on Robin's leg. It purred, satisfied as the child absent-mindedly pet it.

"There are no children in the League-"

"Only disciples and the dead," Huntress finished for him, "Yes, I know."

"You did your research," Robin said with an approving tone.

Helena raised an eyebrow. Honestly, for an eleven year old to sound so high and mighty, she didn't know whether to kick his butt, or to laugh and find it adorable. She decided to do neither.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. The last time they worked together on a case, it was purely on accident. Surely he didn't begrudge her the money she siphoned from Wayne Enterprises to fund her vigilante ways. What was a few hundred thousand dollars between not-siblings?

"Your associate paid me a visit to inform me that it was your birthday a few days ago. She seemed adamant that I greet you."

"Karen did that?" that girl was always looking out for her. Which was good and all, but she really didn't have to.

"You have powerful friends, Huntress," Robin admitted.

"_A _powerful friend," she corrected.

"Surely you don't believe that in your five years here, you have not accumulated any other allies?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her shocked face. "Don't look so surprised. I did my research as well."

"Why are you really here Robin?" Helena asked, suspicious as to his motives. He was her not-brother after all, and in TV shows, brothers tended to prank their sisters.

"Here," he said, tossing her a small package, which she caught. "I was informed that birthdays are apparently not just days to train for and attempt to defeat your mother on for the purpose of meeting your father in the event that you succeed."

Huntress just kept staring at him, not entirely processing what he just said.

"Anyway," he continued, ignoring her stunned silence. "So people apparently celebrate birthdays. But yours was a few day ago, so I guess, belated felicitations are in order. Those are for you."

Robin indicated the package that Huntress was holding. She just stared, shifting her gaze from Robin to the package and back again.

"Perhaps I was expecting too much of you," Robin said as he narrowed his eyes. "You are, after all, my not-sister. A simple 'thank you' would be expected."

He was preparing to leave, Helena realized as she watched him straighten out his costume and take out his grapple. She should definitely say something, but for once, words seemed to fail her. Just as he raised his arm, Helena found her voice.

"Robin, wait."

He stared at her, grapple already aimed, waiting for her to say what she had to.

She might have found her voice, but that didn't mean she knew what to do with it. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say something but deciding that it didn't sound right. Robin started to look annoyed so she went with the simplest thought that came to mind.

"Thank you, not-brother," Huntress said, giving him a big smile. "For greeting me on my not-birthday."

"Tt."

And he was off. Huntress could have sworn she saw him smirk at her, or maybe it was just a trick of the light. In any case, she watched him swing out for a bit, admiring and envying his form and the ease with which he moved through the city, before she turned her attention to the package.

It was a small food container wrapped in a cloth. Helena had no idea how on earth Robin carried it with him without her noticing it when he landed. As soon as she opened it, the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted through the air. It brought her back to her childhood, to happier times with her Mother and Father, to a time when joining them was her biggest goal in life.

She couldn't believe it, savouring the taste as she took a bite out of one of Alfred's cookies. While some things in this strange world were foreign to her, like her not-brother, the other Robins, and her not-father, other things could be so much the same, like these cookies not-Alfred made that taste and remind her so much of home.

All in all, it was a great not-birthday. She should probably thank Karen for it too.

* * *

I think it's sweet that Helena and Damian acknowledge each other as siblings of a sort. I mean, they are Batman's children with sort-of villains (seeing as Earth-2 Catwoman reformed.)

Damian's monologue about spending his birthday that way comes from Batman and Robin 0 which shows how unconventional Damian's childhood was. And the money that Helena was talking about is the money she skims off Wayne Enterprises whenever she runs low on cash.

Comments are appreciated. ^.^


End file.
